A connector for securing a factory made building such as a mobile home to the ground is known in the prior art. Connecting a mobile home or the like to a secured ground anchor is essential when the mobile home is subjected to strong winds such as hurricanes, tornadoes, and other violent storms.
In the past, the primary method of stabilizing the mobile home was through the use of hurricane straps that were looped over the roof of the mobile home and attached at one end to a hurricane anchor embedded in the ground at one side of the mobile home and attached at the other end to a hurricane anchor embedded in the ground at an opposing side of the mobile home. While this method was able to counter most of the vertical forces applied to the mobile home, it was ineffective at countering the horizontal forces exerted. Also, this method created a problem because many times the roof rafters used were not capable of withstanding the forces applied to them.
To resolve the problem with the roof rafters, connectors were developed that countered the vertical forces exerted on the mobile home by attaching a tether such as a chain directly to the I-beam of a mobile home at one end while attaching the tether to a vertically disposed ground anchor at the other end. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,294,053 to Lopes discloses an anchor with a clamping element that is used to engage an I-beam of a mobile home, with a chain extending downward from the clamping element that is secured to the ground. However, this approach fails to counter the horizontal wind forces frequently encountered by mobile homes. Also, the I-beams of a mobile home are generally positioned well inside the skirt of the home, making them difficult to access. This makes the attachment of tethers to the I-beams a laborious exercise.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a connector that is easy to attach to a mobile home. It is a further object of this invention to provide a connector that effectively counters the horizontal as well as the vertical wind forces that may be exerted on the mobile home.